guest meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

guest

noun

/ɡɛst/

Etymology

From Middle English gest, from Old Norse gestr, which replaced or was merged with Old English ġiest, both from Proto-Germanic *gastiz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis (“stranger, guest, host, someone with whom one has reciprocal duties of hospitality”). Doublet of host, from Latin. Cognates West-Germanic: :* Bavarian Gåst (“guest”) :* Dutch gast (“guest”) :* German Gast (“guest”) :* Luxembourgish Gaascht (“guest”) :* Vilamovian gost (“guest”) :* Yiddish גאַסט (gast, “guest”) North-Germanic: :* Danish gæst (“guest, visitor”) :* Faroese and Icelandic gestur (“guest”) :* Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk gjest (“guest”) :* Swedish gäst (“guest”) East-Germanic: :* Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃 (gasts, “guest”)

A recipient of hospitality, especially someone staying by invitation at the house of another.

The guests were let in by the butler.
We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine. We passed on the way the van of the guests from Asquith.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

A patron or customer in a hotel etc.

Guests must vacate their rooms by 10 o'clock on their day of departure.

An invited visitor or performer to an institution or to a broadcast.

special guest
The guest for the broadcast was a leading footballer.

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A user given temporary access to a system despite not having an account of their own.

Biology, Natural sciences, Zoology Any insect that lives in the nest of another without compulsion and usually not as a parasite.

Biology, Natural sciences, Zoology An inquiline.

guest

verb

Etymology

To appear as a guest, especially on a broadcast.

During the '60s, he guested as off-beat characters on TV shows like "The Asphalt Jungle," "Bus Stop," and "The Detectives."1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 254:
Jimmy Fallon’s Trump impression struggled to match up to the real thing when Trump guested on his show.2016 May 23, David Sims, “Where 'Saturday Night Live' Failed This Season”, in The Atlantic, retrieved 12 Dec 2025:

As a musician: to play as a guest, providing an instrument that a band/orchestra does not normally have in its line up (for instance, percussion in a string band).

Oldest son Trey, from Will's first marriage, paved the way for his sibling's stardom when he guested on his dad's hit rap album, Big Willie Style, lending some precocious dialogue to the beginning of "Just the Two of Us" and starring in the accompanying music video:2010 September 9, Kevin Fallon, “Will Smith's 9-Year-Old Daughter Gets Record Deal”, in The Atlantic, retrieved 12 Dec 2025:

Obsolete To receive or entertain hospitably.

Two Angels sent Two Heav'nly Scowts the Lord to Sodom sent ; downe , received and guested1608, [Guillaume de Salluste] Du Bartas, translated by Josuah Sylvester, Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and Workes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Humfrey Lownes [and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson […]], published 1611, →OCLC:

Derived terms: 42 terms
be my guest, cave guest, guestage, guest beer, guest blogger, guest book, guest chair, guestchamber, guesten, guestfree, guestfriendliness, guest-friendly, guestfriendly, guestfriendship, guest-friendship, guesthouse, guest house, guestish, guestless, guestlike, guestlist, guestly, guestmeal, guest night, guest of Her Majesty, guest of honour, guest of honor, guest ranch, guest rancher, guest relation officer, guest room, guest rope, guest speaker, guest star, guest-star, guestwise, guest worker, house guest, houseguest, mystery guest, nonguest, pity guest